Food additives

[2] E150a: The term caramel relates to products of a more or less intense brown colour which are intended for colouring. It does not correspond to the sugary aromatic product obtained from heating sugars and which is used for flavouring food (e.g. confectionery, pastry, alcoholic drinks).

[2] E161g: Canthaxanthin is not authorised in the food categories listed in Part D and E. The substance is in list B1 because it is used in medicinal products in accordance with Directive 2009/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 109, 30.4.2009, p. 10).

[4] E210-213: Benzoic acid may be present in certain fermented products resulting from the fermentation process following good manufacturing practice.

Comments (mine)

I am a chemist, though not a nutritionist or dietetician. I know most of the molecules in the list, although I am really familiar with only a few of the substances above, but let me tell you that in general, I would prefer to avoid them in my food. This list does not show some restrictions of use of the ingredients. See for instance a definition of the European Commission.

Some of the substances in my list are not authorised in individual European countries, whilst some not in my list are.

Natural ( or ) does not mean that the substance is harmless! It only indicates it is extracted from plants, animals or minerals.

Examples, harmless

• Caramel is one (E150a). Provided it is really heated sugar, it won't kill you unless you fell into the boiling cauldron.
• Gold (E175). You are not likely to find tons of it in your groceries, but I found some gold flakes in a Polish liquor adeptly called "Gold Water"...
• Acetic acid (E260) is the acidic component of vinegar. A little is tolerated.
• Ascorbic acid (E300) is the chemical name of vitamin C. You can eat several grams every day if you wish. It is used as a preservative.
• Citric acid (E330) is found in lemons and can also be consumed in small quantities. It is also a preservative.

Examples that I would avoid

• Titanium dioxide (E171) is a white pigment used primarily in paints. Today, it is suspected to contain nano-particles that can invade human organs, including the brain.
• Everyone is conscious of a potential problem of nitrate in the water, but sodium nitrate (E251) is an approved additive. Actually, to be really honest, nitrate has been used for centuries in ham and other cured meat.
• Governments try to ban boron from drinking water, but boric acid (E284) and sodium tetraborate, a.k.a. borax (E285) are permitted.
• The Chinese leader Mao Zedong has killed a few millions of his citizens by instructing the food industry to lace generously processed food with xanthane gum (E415) during a period of famine. The people died with intense stomach pain.
• I am really wondering where they want to use hydrochloric acid (E507) that we use to clean the toilet bowl, or sulphuric acid (E513) that we put in car batteries.
• Ammonium hydroxide (E527) is plain ammonia, an ill-smelling product used to clean floors and bathrooms.
• Silicon dioxide (E551) is plain silica. When you open the package containing your smartest hi-fi appliance, it contains a small pack of silica gel on which you can read: "please don't eat"!
• Shellac (E904) is a polymer used as varnish for violines. It was also the product used to manufacture 78 rpm records in the 1930's before vinyl was introduced. Shellac coating, edible, is used on confectionary (see the smarties that form the background of this page).
• A soft drink called Gatorade, and with a strange blue colour was given to us in Florida, and the label showed "brominated vegetable oil". Apparently not allowed in Europe. Why would you like to drink brominated oil? An FDA site lists the additives used in the USA. You will find there the brominated oil and more nonsense, such as butadiene-styrene rubber and formaldehyde.

Of course, no one will remember all these E numbers, so when you look at the label on your Mars chocolate bar or on my adjacent Smarties, you won't know what's in the bag. My recommendation is still: look at the label, and avoid any processed food that has a composition like a chemist's prescription... Try to eat plain food, cook it yourself or eat it raw. Of course, you must be careful about its cleanliness and conditions of preservation.

See also in my "Reactions" page Open Food Facts: the ingredients and additives of all the industrial food products!

Voir en français Le guide des additifs alimentaires et Additifs alimentaires) (liens externes).